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Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Wednesday morning. We'll have another update for you this evening.
1. £1.4bn for school catch-up plan
Ministers have pledged extra cash to help schools in England tackle the disruption to education caused by the Covid pandemic . The promised £1.4bn in extra funding will be used to provide 100 million hours of tutoring and additional teacher training and development. Vowing that "no child is left behind", Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the programme was the "next step in our long-term catch-up plan". But teachers' unions have criticised the plan, with one saying education recovery "cannot be done on the cheap".
2. Australia's Victoria extends lockdown
The state of Victoria has extended its current coronavirus restrictions for another week due to an outbreak in its largest city, Melbourne. Six new cases were reported on Wednesday, taking the total number to 60. People living in Melbourne will be required to stay at home except for going out to do essential tasks - including getting a Covid vaccination - until 10 June. Restrictions will be more relaxed for rural towns. The Victorian outbreak marks the biggest case increase in Australia since October.
3. Wales' test and trace scheme extended to 2022
The coronavirus test and trace programme in Wales will continue to operate until March 2022 to tackle potential outbreaks, amid concern over the variant first detected in India. So far there have been fewer than 100 cases of the so-called Indian variant - now called Delta - but the Welsh health minister said it would be "very difficult" to stop it spreading from England. According to the Welsh government, contact tracers have reached 99.7% of all positive cases eligible for follow up since the service was introduced last June.
4. Why are property prices rising in a pandemic?
Official figures show UK house prices have been increasing at their fastest rate for more than a decade despite the country being gripped by a pandemic. Potential first-time buyers and movers may have more of a sinking feeling, as some watch the likelihood of owning move further out of reach. One notable boom area has been Cornwall, which has seen more searches on a leading property website than London. The reason for that is many buyers are engaged in a race for space. They want bigger homes with room to live and work, as well as a garden and easy to reach coast or countryside. The trouble is, they are in short supply.
5. Boom time for Zoom
One of the defining developments of the pandemic has been the rise of the Zoom call. Family catch-ups, business meetings, and virtual pub quizzes have all been held on the popular video conferencing platform - with a marked effect on that company's bottom line. Zoom says it's had a "very strong" start to the year , and profits are up from $27m (£19m) in 2020 to $227m (£160m). But analysts are warning that Zoom could struggle to stay relevant as vaccines continue to roll-out and social distancing ends.
And don't forget...
If you're thinking about going abroad from the UK, you can find out what the rules are for the four nations here.
You can find more information, advice and guides on our coronavirus page .
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